Photographic flash unit



y 1967 J. J. BUNDSCHUH 26,214

PHOTOGRAPHIC FLASH UNIT Original Filed Feb. 28, 1963 JOHN J EU/VD SCHUHI N VEN TOR BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent 26,214 PHOTOGRAPHIC FLASHUNIT John J. Bundschuh, Penfield, N.Y., assignor to Eastman KodakCompany, Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Original No.3,184,584, dated May 18, 1965, Ser. No.

261,661, Feb. 28, 1963. Application for reissue June 14,

1966, Ser. No. 562,973

Claims priority, application Germany, Aug. 29, 1962,

K 42,347 7 Claims. (Cl. 240-13) Matter enclosed in heavy bracketsappears in the original patent but forms no part of this reissuespecification; matter printed in italics indicates the additions made byreissue.

This invention relates to a mechanism for a photographic flash unit.More particularly, this invention relates to such a flash unitincorporating mechanism which alternatively releases a hinged reflectoror a flash bulb.

Cameras adapted to expose photo-sensitive film indoors are commonlyprovided with a flash lamp unit which includes a suitable reflector, alamp socket, a power supply and an electric circuit to fire a flash typelamp bulb inserted into the lamp socket.

It is an object of my invention to provide such a flash unit having aretractable reflector and wherein a single release member is operableboth to release the reflector from its inoperative position and torelease the base of a flash bulb from the lamp socket.

Other objects and a further understanding of the invention can be had byreferring to the following description and claims taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

P16. 1 is a partial perspective view, partly in section, of a cameraincorporating my invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a flash accessory mounted on the top ofa camera; and

FIG. 3 is a side view, partly in section, diagrammatically showing theelectric circuit and lamp socket of FIGS. 1 and 2 with a flash bulbinserted therein.

In order to facilitate a clearer understanding of the novel releasemechanism, a brief summary will be helpful. A hinged top cover whichincludes a reflector is mounted on the top wall of the camera and isspring biased for pivotal movement to an operative position. The camerais provided with a manually operable spring biased member, one portionof which serves as a latch for the cover and another portion of whichcarries a detent for holding the base of the flash bulb in the lampsocket so that the one member controls the release of both the cover andthe flash bulb.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1, a hinge plate is fastened to thetop wall 12 of the camera body 14 by any suitable means such as screw16. A pair of bearing members 18 (only one of which is shown) are formedat one edge of hinge plate 10 for the purpose of supporting a shaft 29extending thcrebetween. A cover 22 having a skirt 23 is secured to shaftfor pivotal movement relative to top wall 12 of camera body 14. A coiledtorsion spring 26 whose opposite ends 28 and 28' engage hinge plate 10and cover 22, respectively, tends to urge cover 22 in a clockwisedirection about shaft 20 and to a raised position, as viewed in FIG. 1.A reflector 30 formed of a curved resilient material, such as springsteel buffed on one side to obtain a highly reflective surface, isfastcned at its mid point to the cover 22 by any suitable means, such asspot welds 32. Reflector 30 is slightly bowed so that it tends to form asubstantially parabolic reflecting surface. The corners 34 of theperipheral edge 36 of reflector 30 are preferably rounded off to preventthe reflector from scratching the top surface of hinged Re. 26,214Reissued May 30, 1967 plate 10 when cover 22 is moved to its open orclosed position.

A projection or latch 40 skirt 23 is adapted to extend cated in the topwall 12 of the camera body when the cover is closed. A lever 46,pivotally mounted on a pin 48 which projects from the bottom surface ofwall 12, has a tab or keeper 50 located at one end adapted to co actwith the latch 40 when the cover is in the closed position. A coiledspring 52 having opposite ends 54 and 54 is mounted on pin 48. End 54 ofspring 52 engages a downwardly depending projection 56 of lever 46;whereas, end 54' engages projection 58 depending from wall 12. lever 46is thus urged in a clockwise direction about pin 48, as viewed in FIG.1.

A control button 60 slidably mounted on the rear wall of camera body 14has a pin 62 which projects through a slot 64 in the rear wall of camerabody 14 and operatively engages a depending tab 66 formed on lever 46.Due to the clockwise force exerted by spring 52 on lever 46, tab 66 isurged into engagement with pin 62 of button 60.

As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a V-shaped detent 70, integrally formedon one edge of lever 46 intermediate projection 56 and tab 66. ispositioned to move through a slot 72 in one wall of lamp socket 74 whichis mounted on wall 12. Detent engages a recess 75 in the base 76 of aflash-type lamp bulb 80. Spring contacts 86 and 88 which are suitablymounted on camera body 14 and positioned beneath lamp socket 74, areslidably engaged and depressed by terminals 82 and 84 of flash bulb 80.

The operation of the novel release mechanism can best be describedstarting with cover 22 initially in its inoperative position, whereincover 22 is displaced about shaft 20 in a counterclockwise directionsubstantially 90 from its position shown in FIG. 1, such that latch 40extends through aperture 44. Keeper 50 on spring biased lever 46cooperates with latch 40 to retain cover 22 in this inoperativeposition. With cover 22 in its in operative position, the edges 36 ofreflector 30 will bear against the surface of hinge plate 10; and,because of the resilient material from which it is formed, reflector 30will be flattened somewhat and enclosed within the recess formed byskirt 23 of cover 22. When the operator moves control button 60 to theleft, as shown in FIG. 1, pin 62 will engage tab 66 and rotate lever 46about pin 48 in a counterclockwise direction to move keeper 50 out ofengagement with latch 40. The compression force of spring 26 moves cover22 in a clockwise direction about shaft 20 until skirt 23 of cover 22engages top wall 12 of camera body 14 to prevent further movement. Thegeneral plane of cover 22 will now be positioned substantially at aright angle to the plane of top wall 12. as shown in FIG. 1.Simultaneous with the movement of cover 22 to its vertical position,reflector 30 is released and moves to its operative position in whichthe buffed surface of the reflector, clue to its resilience, tends toform a parabolic reflecting surface.

When the operator releases control button 60, spring 52 urges lever 46in a clockwise direction about pin 48 and V-shaped detent 70 again movesinto slot 72 in lamp socket 74. insertion of the base 76 of a flash lamp80 into lamp socket 74 will cam lever 46 in a counterclockwise directionabout pin 48 against the bias of spring 52. The terminals 82 and 84 oflamp 8t] engage spring contacts 86 and 88, respectively, to electricallyconnect the lamp bulb in series with the electrical power source 87 asdiagrammatically indicated in FIG. 3. The switch 89 of the electricalcircuit is closed in any known manner such as by a shutter-actuated trip(not shown) so as to fire the bulb 80 when the shutter is opened for thetaking of an exposure.

formed in the edge 42 of through an aperture 44 lo- Once an exposure ismade, and lamp bulb 80 has been fired, it is necessary to remove theused lamp bulb from the lamp socket 74. To do this, the operator merelyagain moves control button 60 to the left, as viewed in FIG. 1, therebymoving tab 66 to rotate lever 46 in a counterclockwise direction aboutpin 43 and move V-shaped detent 70 out of slot 72 of lamp socket 74.Spring contact arms 86 and 88 then act on base 76 of lamp bulb 80 toeject the bulb from lamp socket 74.

Once lamp bulb 80 is ejected from lamp socket 74, cover 22 includingreflector 30 can be pivoted about shaft 20 with latch 40 camming lever46 in a counterclockwise direction about pin 48 until keeper 50 isreengaged to lock the cover in its closed position.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment wherein my invention is applied to acamera flash attachment which is separable from the camera, rather thanbeing a part of the camera itself. In this form the reflector, lampsocket, latch, release button, etc. are carried by a member 89 having aT-shaped shoe 90 which can be inserted into a Ushaped shoe receivingmember 92 secured to the top wall 12 of the camera body 14.

When the socket is fully inserted into shoe 92, suitable electricalconnections (not shown) are closed so that contacts of the lamp socket94 will be in electrical circuit with suitable flash control circuitryin the camera.

The invention has been described in detail with particular reference tothe preferred embodiment thereof, but it will be understood thatvariations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scopeof th invention as described hereinabove and as defined in the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A photographic flash unit comprising:

(a) a support;

(b) a lamp socket mounted on the support for releasably accepting thebase of a flush lamp:

(c) a reflector, including a latch, hingedly mounted on the support andmovable between an inoperative position and an operative position;

(d) a member, including a keeper and :1 lamp retention detent, mountedon said support for movement between a first position, in which saidkeeper is in position to engage said latch of said reflector when saidreflector is in said inoperative position and said lamp detent is inposition to engage the base of a flash lamp in said lamp socket and asecond position, in which said keeper releases said latch of saidreflector to allow said reflector to move to said operative position andsaid lamp detent is moved out of engagement with the base of said lampto permit removal of said lamp from said lamp socket; and

(e) control means for moving said member between said first and secondpositions.

2. The photographic flash unit of claim 1 wherein said member is anelongated lever pivotally mounted on said support, said keeper beingformed on one end of said lever for movement therewith in a planesubstantially perpendicular to the plane of movement of said latch onsaid hinged reflector, and said lamp retention detent being formed on anintermediate portion of said lever for movement in a plane substantiallytransverse to the central axis of said lamp socket.

3. A photographic flash unit comprising:

(a) a support;

(In) a lamp socket mounted on one wall of said support for releasablyaccepting the base of a flash lamp;

(c) a substantially flat cover including a skirt and a latch hingedlymounted on said support for movement between a closed position, in whichsaid cover conceals said lamp socket, and an open position, in whichsaid cover is positioned substantially parallel to the central axis ofsaid lamp socket to expose said lamp socket;

(d) a curved reflector secured to said cover for movement therewith,said reflector being accommodated within the confines of said skirt whensaid reflector is in said closed position;

(e) a lever, including a keeper and a lamp retention detent, mounted onsaid support for movement between a first position, in which said keeperis in position to engage said latch of said cover when said cover is insaid closed position and said lamp detent is in position to engage thebase of a lamp in said lamp socket, and a second position in which saidkeeper releases said latch of said cover to allow said cover to move tosaid open position and said lamp detent is held out of engagement withthe base of said lamp to permit removal of said lamp bulb from said lampsocket;

(1) said keeper being formed in one end of said lever for movementtherewith in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane ofmovement of said latch;

(2) a slot formed in one wall of said lamp socket, and

(3) said lamp retention detent being a V-shaped member formed in oneedge of said lever and projecting into said slot of said lamp socket toengage the base of a flash lamp when said lever is in said firstposition; and

(f) a control button slidably mounted on said camera body andoperatively connected to said lever for moving said lever between saidfirst position and said second positions.

4. A flash unit as in claim 3 wherein said cover is 35 resilientlybiased toward said open position and said lever is resiliently biasedtoward its first position.

5 A photographic flash unit for use with a camera having a flash controlcircuit, the unit comprising:

(a) a support;

(b) a socket mounted on the support for accepting the base of aninserted flash device for illumination of the subject to be photographedupon actuation of the flash control circuit;

(c) a single cover-and-reflcctor member movably mounted on the supportto move between a closed position, in which said member covers of leasta portion of the socket, and an open position, in which said memberuncovers the socket and places the reflector portion of said member inoperative position to reflect light from a flash device inserted in thesocket after said member has moved to such open position;

(d) means for retaining the covcr-and-rcflcctor membar in its closedposition;

(e) a single, manually operable control member morable from a firstposition to a second position; and

(f) release means interrelating the control mcmbcr with the socket andwith the cover-and-rcflector member retaining means and which iseficcrive, upon successive movements of the control member from itsfirst position to its second position, for rclearing thecover-and-reflecror member from its closed position and for releasing asubsequently inserted flash device from the socket.

65 6. A photographic flash unit for use with a camera having a flashcontrol circuit, the unit comprising.

(a) (I support;

(b) a socket mounted on the support for accepting the base of aninserted flash device for illumination of the subject to be photographedupon actuation of the flash control circuit;

(0) a single covcr-and-reflccror member movably mounted on the supportto move between a closed position, in which said member covers at leasta portion of the socket, and an open position, in which said memberuncovers the socket and places the reflector portion of said member inoperative position to reflect light from a flash device inserted in thesocket after said member has moved to such open position;

(d) a single, manually operabie control means movable from a firstposition to a second position; and (e) a separate, single membercooperatively associated with the control means to efiect, in turn, uponsuccessive movements of the control means from its first position to itssecond position, (I) movement of the cover-and-reflector member from itsclosed position, and then, after the cover-and-reflect0r member hasmoved to its open position, (2) ejection of a subsequently insertedflash device from the socket. 7. A photographic flash unit for use witha camera having a flash control circuit, the unit comprising:

parallel with the central axis of the socket, uncovers the socket, andplaces the reflector portion of said member in operative position toreflect light from a flash device inserted in the socket after saidmember has moved to such open position;

(d) a single, manually operable control member movable from a firstposition to a second position for eflecting thereby movement of thecover-and-reflector member from its closed position to its open positionand ejection of a subsequently inserted flash device from the socketwhen the cover-and-reflector member is in its open position.

References Cited The following references, cited by the Examiner, are ofrecord in the patented file of this patent or the original (a) asupport; patent.

(b) a socket mounted on the support for accepting the UNITED STATESPATENTS base of an inserted flash device for illumination of 20 2 730730 2 1957 Bemams 24 3 the subject to be photographed upon actuation ofthe 2,976,398 3/1961 MCKGC et aL 9 11 5 X flash Comm" 3,069,649 12/1962Kotler et al 33945 (c) a single cover-and-reflcctor member movably 3 079490 2/1963 Barbieri mounted on the support to move between a closed3204:542 9/1965 Strasser at a] I 95 11 position, in which said memberlies in a plane trans- 25 verse to the central axis of the socket andcovers at least a portion of the socket, and an open position, in whichsaid member lies in a plane substantially NORTON ANSHER, PrimaryExaminer.

F. L. BRAUN, Assistant Examiner.

